Planning change in scheduling practices: a theoretical perspective

The dynamic nature of today's health care environment requires innovation and creativity in organizational structure and management style. Some of the most essential concerns of nursing staff today are related to quality of working life, and perhaps a central focus for most nurse employees is a scheduling system which offers the flexibility necessary for them to respond to an active personal and professional life. This paper describes the utilization of change theory in operationalizing new scheduling practices with four unique nursing groups. The self designed master rotation and a self scheduling process are two examples of innovative change implemented by four nurse managers. Each participative management approach is presented in relation to the phases of Lewin's change process. Strategies include a needs assessment survey, facilitating staff participation in the design, implementation and evaluation of a new scheduling practice and encouraging group responsibility for the process and outcome of the planned change.